[Ravenseye]

Is this a normal or is it the beginning of my bees making themselves a new queen?

http://www.ravenseye.net/DSC02607.JPG
http://www.ravenseye.net/DSC02608.JPG
http://www.ravenseye.net/DSC02609.JPG

I have another "bump" on a different frame...about the same size. The current queen seems to like working just the center frames. The outside frames aren't even drawn out yet. Should I swap outside for inside, putting capped brood away from where she's working?

 

[drobbins]

they often build "practice" queen cups
as long as they don't start raising something in there it's of no concern
nice pics

Dave

 

[Dave W]

Is that a "spotty brood pattern" I see

, maybe thats why the bees want a new queen.

I would keep all brood in a group, but moving a frame of undrawn foundation one frame closer to the activity would be a good idea. You need to get at least 20 deep frames fully drawn and most of them filled w/nectar to survive the coming winter.

 

[Ravenseye]

Well, a week or so ago it was solid capped brood.

But, she seems to be slow. Hived the second week in May. The deep has 6 of 10 frames nearly fully drawn, but not fully utilized. Should I start feeding again? I did move a frame closer to the center leaving the brood together. I should mention that the area you're seeing has had capped brood a number of times. She seems to be good at re-using the same area.

 

[Dave W]

>a week or so ago it was solid capped brood . . .
Maybe hot weather or nectar slow-down or lack of feeding has caused her to stop laying. The pictures show very clearly a queen cell in the classic "supersedure" location (mid-frame). Are you sure there are no queen cells at or near the bottom of frames (swarm cells).

>Hived the second week in May . . .
Two months after installation w/ 7 or 8 frames drawn would mean your ready for a second hive body.

>Should I start feeding again?
Is there a flow? How many bees per minute do you see returning w/ nectar?

>She seems to be good at re-using the same area . . .
They all do

 

[Ravenseye]

I saw no queen cells at all near the bottom of the frames. There was a cell like this on another frame in nearly the same position. It has been very warm and there is very little honey capped over in the frames.

I put a second deep on after talking to a local beekeeper.

I don't think there's a flow. I havene't counted bees per minute returning but there seems to be a fairly constant flow of bees in and out of the hive.

I moved one frame of foundation closer to the inside of the deep, displacing one frame of capped brood one position out of center. I'm thinking that I should start feeding again....what does everyone think?

 

[Ravenseye]

What a difference a week makes. I left the queen cell (there was another as well) and figured that nature would take her course. I did move an outside frame with just foundation (with just a very little bit drawn) closer to the inside. That's when I started this original post.

Today, I opened the hive and found that both original queen cells were open (kind of torn open at the bottom part at the end of the cell). The original, marked queen was very active. The frame that I moved towards the inner part of the hive looked like it had started there. Nearly all of it was drawn and some of it had some honey curing. I found eggs and a lot of very small larva. The frame weighed as much as neighboring frames. I was astounded at how much had happened in just those few days.

However, there is very little honey in all the frames. We have a dearth here and I'm getting concerned. Threw the feeder back on with some 1:1 thinking that maybe they would be encouraged to draw some more, especially in the upper deep. I also swapped another outer frame that is partially drawn with an inner frame hoping that things will spread out the way they did last week.

Depending on the fall flow, looks like I'll be feeding anyway to get into the winter.

First year for me so I'll take all the advice I can get. You've all been great and I appreciate it.